The Electoral Commission (EC) has explained that it did not impose nomination of representatives of minority political parties on the Electoral Reforms Committee.

According to the commission, the decision to have a 10-member Electoral Reforms Committee was discussed at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting and the composition was made known to all political parties present at the said IPAC meeting.

“This had nothing to do with the Electoral Commission,” the acting Director of Communication of the EC, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra last Wednesday.

He was reacting to a petition by the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) that the EC was imposing representatives on the minority parties.

It will be recalled that the Daily Graphic, in its Tuesday, January 27 issue, carried a story that the PPP claimed the EC discriminated against it in the composition of the committee especially as the party had a distinctive position on the electoral reforms as regards the electronic voting system, and the presence of the party on the committee would assist greatly in articulating those reforms.

In the view of the National Secretary of PPP, Mr Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, the party’s most important proposed reforms of deploying a full electronic voting system was not shared by all the political parties. “Our interest can, therefore, not be represented in this important governance process,’’ he argued.

The General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Bernard Mornah, said: “We think it is unfair for us not to have a representation on the committee.’’ He said recommendations from the committee would not “represent the true picture’’ of all the political parties in the country.

But speaking with the Daily Graphic on the minority parties’ concerns, Mr Owusu Parry, said the EC had on record that on December 12, 2014, the minority parties held a meeting where eventually some voting took place and Mr Ani Kofi Addo of Yes People’s Party (YPP) was elected to represent the minority parties.

He said there was a tie between Mr Kobina Bomfeh of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Mr Ward Brew of Democratic People’s Party (DPP). The acting director said on January 13, 2015, another meeting was called where a vote was held to break the tie between the two and Mr Kobina Bomfreh was elected over Mr Ward Brew at that ballot.

Mr Owusu-Parry said Mr Bernard Mornah of the People’s National Convention (PNC) supported the candidature of Mr Bomfeh of CPP and expressed surprise at why he should turn round to accuse the EC of imposing representatives on them.

The EC has no hand in the selection of the two representatives of the minority parties on the 10-member reforms committee, Mr Owusu-Parry pointed out. “It was entirely their own decision so we are surprised concerns are now being raised,” he declared. He said the minority parties had a fair opportunity to make their case at the IPAC level for consideration.

Mr Owusu-Parry, however, allayed the fears of the minority parties that their proposals on reforms which they submitted to the EC would not be left out but would be considered in their totality when the 10-member reform committee started its sitting.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.